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Ottoman forces penetrate deep into Europe, besieging Vienna. All seems lost until the Winged Hussars arrived. Led by King Jan III Sobieski, the Polish cavalry decimate the Ottoman troops, marking the turning point for Ottoman conquests in Europe, saving Vienna and Europe from Islam. -
After over one hundred years of foreign occupation, Poland re-emerges as a nation in the aftermath of the Treaty of Versailles. -
Soviet forces push the Polish armies west, many predicted a Soviet victory, however when Józef Piłsudski counterattacked from the south, the Red Army was completely routed. Lenin called it "an enormous defeat". It secured Poland's independence. -
Seeking lebensraum in the east, Adolf Hitler demands the cessation of Danzig (Gdańsk) to Germany. Upon Poland's refusal, German forces invade, marking the beginning of the Second World War.
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Assurances secured by the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviets invade Poland a couple weeks after Nazi Germany's invasion, occupying all eastern locations and annexing them into the Soviet Union. -
NKVD officers carry out mass executions on Polish military officials as well as deportations of Poles. -
Resisting the deportation and slaughter of their people to concentration camps, the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto rise up in rebellion. It is the largest Jewish uprising of the Second World War. -
The Polish Underground State, having planned for years and with the approach of the Red Army, launch the largest uprising during WW2 in Warsaw. Initially successful, the Soviets halted their advance, letting the Poles die as the Germans regrouped. While unsuccessful, with most of Warsaw being destroyed, the courageous hearts of the Poles lives on, in their defiance of Nazism. -
Workers in Poland protest against the communist government and are met with violent repression. -
Karol Józef Cardinal Wojtyła is chosen by his fellow cardinals to succeed Pope John Paul I. He takes the name John Paul II (Lat: Ioannes Paulus II; Pol: Jan Paweł II). He is regarded as one of the greatest popes of the last century. He promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church and helped end Communism.